OTF Premium Two ways Cam Coleman immediately makes the Texas offense better

[Jeff Howe]

There are two ways Cam Coleman should positively impact the Texas offense when the former Auburn wide receiver, who committed to Steve Sarkisian's program on Sunday, takes the field in 2026.

The first way is Coleman's contested catch ability down the field.

According to Pro Football Focus, Coleman faced 11 contested targets on passes thrown to him 20 yards or more down the field as a sophomore. Coleman caught nine of them, contributing almost exclusively to the 10 receptions for 323 yards and three touchdowns he recorded on deep balls.

For context, Coleman’s production on contested deep balls in 2025 was better than Lil’Jordan Humphrey's (seven receptions on 11 targets) or Colin Johnson's (six receptions on 10 targets) in 2018. Coleman was also better than what the offense got from Matthew Golden (seven receptions on 10 targets) in those situations in 2023.

Given Arch Manning’s prowess throwing the ball down the field (26 for 65 for 934 yards with 13 touchdowns, three interceptions and a PFF grade of 91.5 on pass attempts of 20 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage) without a receiver with Coleman’s ability to win 50/50 balls, the 2026 offense could feature the best downfield passing attack of the Sarkisian era.

The second is Coleman’s ability to win against man coverage.

Coleman’s PFF grade of 79.1 against man coverage (14 receptions for 163 yards and two touchdowns on 18 targets) was better than any Texas wideout posted in 2025 (Kaliq Lockett’s grade of 76.7 came on just five targets, making Parker Livingstone’s grade of 70.1 the closest to Coleman among the receivers who were regulars in the rotation). The only Longhorn wide receiver with a better single-season grade against man coverage under Sarkisian is Xavier Worthy’s 82.3, which he earned as a freshman in 2021, when he caught 14 balls for 319 yards and four touchdowns on 21 targets against man coverage.

When Coleman hits the field for his first practice, he’ll immediately become the best wideout Sarkisian has had at Texas on 50/50 balls and arguably the best he’s had at being able to win against man coverage. What the Longhorns lost with the departures of Livingstone (a threat down the field) and DeAndre Moore Jr. (arguably the best wideout in Chris Jackson's room working against man coverage when healthy) has been replaced with one player (one with the potential to be selected in the top half of the first round of the NFL draft).

Two areas that have been hit or miss for the Texas passing attack under Sarkisian should be remedied upon Coleman’s arrival to the extent that they become strengths for the Longhorns in what should be Manning's last season at the controls.

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[Bunk Moreland]

Great stuff, Jeff. Thanks!

[JMarquette]

Can’t wait to see Cam at LG!

[antcan95]

I think Mosley will tear up the middle of the fields with Coleman going deep and Wingo getting screens. He’s so underrated 

[Jeff Howe]

@Rod Babers and I did a video breakdown on Cam Coleman today, where we take a deeper dive into some of the numbers I broke down in this article. I'll link it here when it goes live.

[Golden Arm]

we got a stud

 

[Joe Zura]

Love it mute Howe 🤘🏼

[Burnt Orange Horn]

It will be very interesting if Bishop enters the circle of trust.  Wingo must take this opportunity to work on his pass catching skills.

[CJ Vogel]

Good read, Jeff!

[Jeff Howe]

BTW, Arch's PFF grade on deep balls was the fourth-best (minimum 13 attempts) in the SEC in 2025, behind only Trinidad Chambliss (95.7), Joey Aguilar (93.9) and Diego Pavia (92.9). 

[diegozanna20]

Might be wrong on this but even with all the hype I think Coleman is being "underrated".
He's litterally never played with a competent QB or offense.
He ran like 4 routes at Auburn.
Arnold last year could only throw to stationary targets and he had to see them being open to throw it to them.
I also think, with Arch at QB and Sark's offensive scheme, Coleman will drastically improve his YAC.
Not only that, but the specific combination of Wingo's horizontal threat and Coleman's vertical threat will give DCs nightmares... Just to have to worry about some explosive RBs in the backfield who are really good pass catchers aswell and a very very talented Mosley tearing up the middle of the field.

[alrightalrightalright]

Great breakdown, Jeff!

[alrightalrightalright]

[rgvhorn80]

Who’s going to address the elephant in the room? Why is Texas constantly having to go to the portal to address WR?

[tenneseehorn08]

1 minute ago, antcan95 said:

I think Mosley will tear up the middle of the fields with Coleman going deep and Wingo getting screens. He’s so underrated 

Totally agree. The corollary to Jeff's analysis here is that, as a result, when/if Coleman gets doubled, Wingo and Mosely's strengths amplify. And if Wingo and Mosely are keeping defenders outside the box, to cover glance routes, mesh routes, bubble screen threats, slants, etc, Brown, Smothers, and Niblett have favorable numbers for an actual, consistent running game. 

And then, of course, defenses at least have to respect Arch keeping it on a read option or backside bootleg.

Long and short, if our incumbent OL can stay healthy and make modest improvements and we actually get a few more dudes, we should be cooking with gas... 

[JimR6]

Don’t forget Lockett when considering the WR rotation.

[GDI]

27 minutes ago, rgvhorn80 said:

Who’s going to address the elephant in the room? Why is Texas constantly having to go to the portal to address WR?

Fair question.  

[Texas fan in Georgia]

It’s a pick your poison type offense. 

[Bunk Moreland]

35 minutes ago, rgvhorn80 said:

Who’s going to address the elephant in the room? Why is Texas constantly having to go to the portal to address WR?

My theory is that Sark’s circle of trust for WRs makes it very difficult for them to develop at Texas. We know that Sark doesn’t rotate his receivers very often and has a very tight circle of trust. This means that it’s extremely difficult for young receivers to get on the field and get meaningful reps. This, in turn, requires Sark to go to the portal to get proven experience at the position, which further impedes the young players’ development and keeps them off the field. It’s a self-reinforcing cycle.

[Chop]

Awesome numbers to read!

 

how is he on the edge as a blocker? He seems like a guy who genuinely cares about the team winning and will do what’s needed whether it’s him or Wingo, a run etc

[Horns 7]

Wasn't Mendoza up there? Jeff is a stud!

[SuperDave0805]

Third way is to go on the Gerry corndog diet gain a hundred pounds and become Kelvin Banks 2.0